Orchestral Mix Comments

[cademan7]

Hey, I'm working on a mix to a new orchestral piece of mine. I don't even have a name for it yet. haha Anyway, I've been having a little bit of trouble with the mix a little. I'd like to hear some peoples comments/critiques based upon your first listen. Comments on the mix, programming, etc. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Link:
https://soundcloud.com/caderobertsmusic ... n-progress

Thanks,
Cade

[burpo]

Hey Cade,

Much of this is above my pay-grade, but I'll throw my hat into the ring.

Those more knowledgeable than I could tweak this toward perfection,
but all I can offer is that I'd push the drums back with a little 'verb and some EQ fattening.
Level is fine.

You have a wonderfully realized piece that, I'm sure, is on its way to library gold.

Cheers.

-b

[funsongs]

Hey Cade-Man... it's not what you asked for... so, for what it's worth:
the tension emotes, brings to my mind, a scene (like, say, in The Fugitive)...
where the innocent is running for his freedom from his would-be captors; while the uplifting parts of the piece brings a sense of victory for that freedom. Maybe a title that syncs up with that would help get the forward/placement; something like:
Freedom Getaway, Chasing Freedom,
Freedom Chase, Victory Run...? I dunno...
(Run For Your Life is overused/already used/cliche')...
but something in that ballpark seems to fit, imho.
(edit: I'm inspired to write all that in the wake of ML's 'hammering' on the importance of the title to a piece's chances of getting attention/listened to/heard/forwarded/placed; in other words, it cannot be overstated how important it is to have a title that is confirmed by the emotion & power of the composition).

It's an engaging piece; I'll leave the mix critiques for the others who do this kind of stuff.
Sounds good to these old-guy's ears.

Good luck with it.

[mojobone]

Leave the drums be! that's what makes it EPIC! I have just a couple of comments; the low brass is loading up the right channel, and sounds unbalanced. Yeah, I know it's where they're supposed to sit, so maybe double with some strings, left? The other 'ting, it doesn't quite meet the Three Act Trailer requirement, but if it's not for a trailer, it maybe doesn't need to. Good stuff!

[madkeys88]

Very nice piece. I thought your programming was excellent. I'd leave the drums out front for that epic emotion. Don't know your plans with it ( trailer?), so I'll leave it be at that. I think too, you could balance out the horns pan-wise with something else on the left. Impressive work!

[cademan7]

Hey Cade-Man... it's not what you asked for... so, for what it's worth:
the tension emotes, brings to my mind, a scene (like, say, in The Fugitive)...
where the innocent is running for his freedom from his would-be captors; while the uplifting parts of the piece brings a sense of victory for that freedom. Maybe a title that syncs up with that would help get the forward/placement; something like:
Freedom Getaway, Chasing Freedom,
Freedom Chase, Victory Run...? I dunno...
(Run For Your Life is overused/already used/cliche')...
but something in that ballpark seems to fit, imho.
(edit: I'm inspired to write all that in the wake of ML's 'hammering' on the importance of the title to a piece's chances of getting attention/listened to/heard/forwarded/placed; in other words, it cannot be overstated how important it is to have a title that is confirmed by the emotion & power of the composition).

It's an engaging piece; I'll leave the mix critiques for the others who do this kind of stuff.
Sounds good to these old-guy's ears.

Good luck with it.

Thanks Pete! You're right about the title, although, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to pitch this to a library or not. I didn't write for any other reason than for funsies. But yeah, something along the lines of "Victory Run" might be cool. I'll think in that direction.

[cademan7]

Leave the drums be! that's what makes it EPIC! I have just a couple of comments; the low brass is loading up the right channel, and sounds unbalanced. Yeah, I know it's where they're supposed to sit, so maybe double with some strings, left? The other 'ting, it doesn't quite meet the Three Act Trailer requirement, but if it's not for a trailer, it maybe doesn't need to. Good stuff!

Yep, I think you are right about the horns being a little unbalanced. I'll definitely work on trying to fix that. It's not for a trailer. I wrote it pretty much just for fun and practice. It's too complicated to be easily adapted to a picture, since it wasn't scored to a scene. But either way, I had a great time writing it! haha Thanks for the suggestions though!

[cademan7]

Very nice piece. I thought your programming was excellent. I'd leave the drums out front for that epic emotion. Don't know your plans with it ( trailer?), so I'll leave it be at that. I think too, you could balance out the horns pan-wise with something else on the left. Impressive work!

Thanks man! Yep, definitely need to do something about the horns being unbalanced. That's one of the things I think I just got used to from hearing it too much, but since somebody else pointed it out, I can see it now. No plans really. It started out as a composition for a trailer listing, but I got busy doing other things and missed the deadline. So, from there I decided just to approach as a piece of music and finish it for fun, which is why it doesn't follow a three-act formula.

[mikeymike2000]

Hi Cade,

First of all... funzies, eh? I like the way you have fun!

Keep the drums exactly the way the are.

Open up that brass by shifting the trumpets closer to 1:00pm and add in some French Horns @ 11:00am on those swells and legato parts.

I am not sure if the Glock (& high pizz) work in this piece.

The strings are obviously quality samples but it sounds like you have 2 different orchestras going here, a classical orchestra and an epic Hollywood orchestra. Some of the strings don't seem to fit and others fit really well.

To me this sounds like you can break it out into 2 completely different pieces. One legato string orchestra for underscore and one in-your-face trailer.

Also, a piece like this pretty much is mandatory to have a button ending.

If you are just making fun here and are open to it, I would be interested in getting under the hood and playing mad scientist with you to see what happens.

[mrkevin50]

Liked the overall piece but it just sounds a bit Tinny to me need more bottom end and a bit more space added to it maybe add a few more cellos or Basses more lo brass not sure but how much fun can you have in a day Great start now it need a great Finish . Good Work . Kevin